TuftsAlert: There is a BOMB THREAT on the Medford/Somerville Campus.

UPDATE 1:13 p.m. All of the following buildings have been searched and are now open. No threats identified. Resume normal activity. Incident remains under investigation. Bendetson Hall  7th floor Dowling Paige Hall Miner Hall Joyce Cummings Center SEC Complex Anderson Hall  Robinson Hall East Hall ____________________ UPDATE 12:03 p.m. TO: AS&E Students, Medford/Somerville In an abundance of caution and to mitigate further disruption, the School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering will be postponing all exams (both online and in-person) scheduled today (December 15) from noon onward.  Beginning tomorrow (December 16th), all exams will shift to an online format. Faculty may elect to use other formats to evaluate students. Faculty are responsible for communicating with students about exams. SMFA Review Boards are happening as usual on the SMFA campus. Libraries, laboratories, and dining services will remain open. For students who wish to remain on campus to accommodate their travel arrangements, you are welcome to do so. Campus operations remain as normal. You may contact the Dean of Student Affairs with questions. If you need immediate support resources, please know that the University Chaplaincy, Counseling and Mental Health Services (CMHS), Ears for Peers, the Division of Student Diversity and Inclusion, the International Center, and the Dean of Student Affairs Office on the Medford/Somerville campus are all available to support you. You may also reach out to the Counselor-on-Call available 24/7 by calling 617-627-3360 and following the prompts. ____________________ UPDATE 9:51 a.m. The status of campus has changed. The affected buildings below are still being searched. All other areas of the campus are open. Bendetson Hall 7th floor Dowling Paige Hall Miner Hall Joyce Cummings Center SEC Complex Anderson Hall Robinson Hall East Hall This page will continue to be updated as necessary. ____________________ PAST MESSAGE 9:04 a.m. A bomb threat has been reported affecting the Tufts University Medford/Somerville campus. Please evacuate the buildings and areas listed below and take your belongings with you. Authorities are searching these buildings and areas now. Office of Undergraduate Admissions Department of Philosophy Department of Mathematics East Hall Anderson Hall Check back here for updates. Follow instructions from authorities. Avoid the area. If you need a place to go, please go to the Gantcher Center at 161 College Ave., Medford.

Tisch College is excited to host a diverse group of speakers this fall who are grappling with our semester’s theme: the fight for democracy. Join us for in-person conversations with civic leaders such as March for Our Lives co-founder David Hogg, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s Sherrilyn Ifill, and many more as we explore topics ranging from misinformation to abortion in America to paid family leave to how libraries can save democracy. Check out the complete list of events and register for these opportunities and more on our website.

Opportunity for faculty and staff—if you have a sustainability project idea, fill out the short Green Fund application by October 1 to receive project funding and support. Solar panels, hydroponics, art installations, social justice events—the Office of Sustainability welcomes all ideas and project proposals. We are hosting info sessions and drop-in hours to explain the application process and answer questions on these days: Info SessionsTuesday, September 20, 5 – 6 p.m., on Zoom Wednesday, September 21, 12 – 1 p.m., in-person in Barnum 231 (at the top of the red staircase) Drop-In HoursMonday, September 26, 12 – 1 p.m., on Zoom Wednesday, September 28, 4 – 5 p.m., on Zoom More info about the Green Fund can be found at go.tufts.edu/greenfund.

What's new: John Hancock has allotted 50 bibs for runners representing Tufts University in the 2023 Boston Marathon on Monday, April 17, 2023.  What you need to know:  Fundraising is a requirement for Tufts runners. The minimum amounts are $3,000 for students and $10,000 for all others (alumni, staff, parents, and friends of Tufts). Gifts will support research at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. A distribution system will be used to determine which students will receive bibs, with special preference for those nearing the end of their time at Tufts. With limited space, staff, alumni, parents, and friends with high fundraising ambitions will also be given special preference to receive a slot. What you need to do:  All interested runners can register here. Those interested in joining the team can participate in training runs and meet other runners starting on Sunday, September 25, 2022 at 8 a.m. The team will meet in front of the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center on the Medford/Somerville campus.

Once every 10 years, Tufts University is evaluated by and achieves accreditation from the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), one of seven accrediting commissions in the United States recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Tufts has been accredited by NECHE since 1929 and was last reviewed in 2013. In March 2023, Tufts will undergo a comprehensive evaluation visit by a team of faculty and administrators from peer institutions representing NECHE. Accreditation is a voluntary, peer review process that assures quality to the public, eases student transfer between institutions by signaling quality, provides institutions with access to federal financial aid, and certifies a graduate’s credentials to employers. For the past year and a half, Tufts has been engaged in a process of self-study, addressing NECHE’s nine Standards for Accreditation, which span all aspects of university life, governance, and mission. As part of the accreditation process, a draft of the self-study is ready to be shared with the Tufts’ community. The community is invited to submit comments regarding the self-study via email to neche2023@tufts.edu. Comments from the community are an important part of the accreditation process to ensure that the self-study is comprehensive and reflective of Tufts.  For questions or to access to specific appendices in the self-study, please email neche2023@tufts.edu.

What’s New: Tufts Monday Minute will replace Tufts Announcements as the university’s weekly email digest for staff, faculty, postdocs, and affiliates on September 26. Read more about these changes here. What You Need to Know: There is a new submission form, but its location has not changed: announcements.tufts.edu/submit.The new email format will use headlines, brief explainers, and links for more information. You can pre-schedule updates and content in advance now. To be included in the following week’s Monday Minute, please submit by Thursday at 10 a.m. We won’t accept direct event submissions, but we will be featuring a few events each week that we find on events.tufts.edu, so we encourage you to submit them there to be considered!